Raison D'Etre
by Hymntanra
Summary: While helping evacuate a city attacked by the Black Mage, Freud discovers a child who no longer has parents to care for it. Against his better judgement, he chooses to take the child in and raise him among the Heroes. And he names that found baby boy, Evan. AU story where Evan is raised by Freud and the Heroes.
1. Baby Blues

**Author's Notes: This is my newest project, and is also my first go at the whole AU thing. For those of you unfamiliar with it, AU=Alternate Universe, AKA a universe in which different circumstances occurred. The idea for this particular one came to me after a bit of brainstorming and a few friends of mine encouraged it (they really liked the idea). It took a while to come up with a name, but finally I got and so the story got rolling. I hope you all like it-go ahead and r'n'r if you do like the idea! I look forward to working on this project! **

**Enjoy!**

**Note, this will probably be the only Author's Note I'll leave for this story. **

Raison D'Etre

Chapter One

Baby Blues

The airborne ship glided low, much lower than it would have normally flew; the hull had already breached through the blue-white clouds. The gold decorations of the ramp still shone brightly against the reflecting moon and the long wing-like petals glistened becomingly. The Lumiere was an exquisite vessel even when it was not in movement. When in flight, it was positively a sight to behold—as if a beautiful manmade bird had been released into the wild to bestow its (expensive) beauty down upon the people around it.

The beauty was not particular something of concern for those upon the ship, though.

At the very figurehead of the Lumiere stood a slim man, dressed almost entirely in a gold-trimmed red robe. From a distance the outfit seemed to almost swallow his minute frame. Erratic, poorly brushed hair blew wildly about in the wind whipped up by the movement of the ship. The mass of brown locks was pinned in the center by an ornate and unusual headband—at the end of each side of the purple band were golden circlets, from which protruded a single jeweled dragon wing. The man's ice blue eyes seemed lost in thought as he looked down at the scene below the ship.

It was not a pretty scene to his eyes, he had to admit. Below the keel of the Lumiere was a spread of a burning city overtaken with collapsing buildings. The red-clad mage atop the figurehead could see the forms of people rushing out of the town and could hear the screams of the citizens. As he cast his ice blue eyes across the scene, the man could see that the majority of the offenders who had started the riot in this town had already retreated from sight—only a few stragglers remained. With a deep sigh he turned to the deck where a group of people were patiently awaiting instruction.

"We are too late." He announced crisply.

"What? Freud, we left the second that we heard this town was under attack! How could we possibly be late?" An elfin woman stepped forward, her heels clacking angrily on the polished wood of the deck. The brunette shook his head.

"There's nothing I can particularly say to that, Queen Mercedes. However, we have to do what we can. Phantom! Hook up the water supply of the Lumiere to start putting out the fires as soon as possible." Freud instructed; a man dressed in a white military jacket and a flashy hat nodded and shifted his raven mask across his face. The ex-thief had acquired a habit of doing that in his hero duties—being recognized had never done him many favors, even now that he was helping people. "Aran, Luminous, and Mercedes. You come with me. We're going down below to help the evacuation efforts. There's nothing we can do here now except but to help these people find refuge elsewhere."

No arguments were made; those asked to go down below rushed over to the ladder that one of the maids was now throwing over the side of the railing. The Lumiere was now floating silently above a charred meadow; the rope ladder stopped a few inches above the grass. Each fighter jumped the extra length down, although Freud embarrassingly found himself falling onto his knees rather than his feet. Aran extended a gloved hand to help the brunette mage up and he accepted it graciously.

"Thank you, Aran." He said with a slight smile. The tan woman barely replied; she just gave a small snort and took off towards the burning village with Luminous in tow. Freud dusted himself off and turned to Mercedes; the Lumiere was already taking off to work on putting out the fires that the other two were heading towards. Both the elf and the scholar wordlessly watched as the ornate vessel disappeared across the clouding skies.

"We should get going." Mercedes said quietly, adjusting her left bowgun and lowering herself into a crouch. When Freud gave a slow nod, the elf immediately jumped against a nearby tree and jetted out into the clear air towards the burning town. The red clad scholar watched for a moment then placed his fingers between his lips, letting out a piercing whistle; within minutes a large jet black dragon erupted from behind the clouds. The people in the crowd shrieked and began to flee.

"No, it's fine, it's fine!" Freud tried to sooth them but was met with no positive response. So he just groaned and climbed onto Afrien's back. "Alright there, old friend. We need to go over to that village and start helping any evacuees who might be stuck in the town. It's a pretty standard mission. Let's go."

"We could not make it in time, I suppose?"

Freud didn't reply. He simply pushed the heel of his foot into the hard scale of Afrien's skin; both knew it was an action that would cause no pain whatsoever due to the dragon's tough scales, and both knew it meant that it wasn't a topic that the mage was keen on talking about at the moment. Afrien obliged and spread out his wings, jettisoning into the air after the other three fighters that Freud had instructed to accompany him into the village.

Freud figured he perhaps shouldn't feel so…bad about it, because he had seen this sort of thing before. These burning villages with fleeing people was fairly common nowadays, especially after the death of Empress Aria. All of them had seen it before. Some of them had even been in towns when these riotous attacks by the Black Mage started. But the dictatorial man had been stepping it up a notch lately; nowadays, if a village opposed his rule, the Black Mage would send out his soldiers and generals within days to destroy the village. Freud was beginning to fear that their enemy had completely lost his mind.

He did have to wonder if it started with Empress Aria's death…if that had gotten rid of a burden that had been previously stopping the Black Mage from pulling out his nastiest side. With Aria out of the way, it was very hard for the Empire's Knights to properly operate…leaving Freud, Phantom, Mercedes, Aran, Luminous, and whoever chose to follow those five as the Black Mage's only opposition.

Freud tightened his grip on Afrien's golden horns as his own ice blue eyes narrowed slightly. That was….unpleasant to think about it. He would have to discuss it with the rest of the team later. For now, though, he could see a smattering of people below in the square—it was only about three people and one of them was clearly unconscious. The mage clicked his tongue slightly and kicked Afrien's neck to signal the need to land. His soul companion obliged his wish and landed on the cobblestone in the middle of the burning pavilion.

The three people look fearfully at the menacing beast. "W-who are you?!"

Freud slid off the dragon with ease, this time managing to land on his feet with a pleasant smile adorning his features. "My name is Freud. I'm working with a group of people to help evacuate the town. Who might you be?"

"O-oh…you…you're one of those hero people…?" A woman with sagging features coughed slightly, limping to her feet. Freud cocked an eyebrow. Hero people? Was that really what they were being calling nowadays? He didn't particularly consider any of them to be any sort of 'hero people' but whatever made the civilians happy, he supposed. "P-please….my daughter, she…"

"Move." Freud instructed. The elderly woman moved to the side, dragging a pair of teens aside with her. One had dark brown hair and the other had light blonde hair. Both clutched desperately at the elderly woman's sides with fear permeating their features. The scholar ignored them and approached the comatose woman sitting by the broken fountain; her eyes were closed and her brown hair was cast out of its ponytail. Her pink dress was patched and frayed and a nasty burn was cast across her face.

It didn't look good.

Freud turned to Afrien, motioning the dragon forward. The beast did as it was told, moving toward the older woman and the teenagers. All three of the latter shivered visibly in fright. "Do not be afraid of Afrien. He means you no harm. He is nothing if not an ally of humanity and he wants to help you. So tell me…who is this woman?"

"M-mother…" One of the teenagers mumbled.

"Mother. I see." Freud said quietly, taking the woman's wrist and pressing a set of fingers up and down her pulse point. He wasn't getting any feedback. Gently he placed a hand on one of the burned woman's shoulders and leaned in to press his ear against the woman's chest; no difference. He was not picking up any sign of life from this still body. The mage held in his groan and stood to his feet, snapping his feet to grab Afrien's attention. The dragon's large black head drew in closer so that he could speak as privately to his master as possible.

"What's the verdict?"

"She won't be rising anytime soon, I'm afraid to decree." Freud said uncomfortably. "I want you to take these three to the meadow that we came to so that they can be with the other evacuees. Handle them there and explain to the eldest one about the death of the mother. She will probably be able to handle it better than the children will. Come back for me when you're done."

"Will you be safe?"

"Have I ever not been?" Freud said with a weary smile as he patted his companion on the beak. Afrien was silent for a moment, and then nodded slightly. His master turned to the three waiting civilians with warming blue eyes. "You three. My friend Afrien here is going to be taking you three to a nearby meadow where the rest of the evacuees are. Don't be afraid of him—he is quite gentle."

"But my daughter—" The elderly woman tried to interrupt, but the harsh glare she received from Freud was enough to silence it. The ice blue eyes clearly told her that she had to do this for the sake of the children that were clutched at her side, and that she would get an explanation eventually. So, despite the fearful protests of the children, the elderly woman began to load the two onto Afrien's back. The dragon gave his master a trusting nod and jettisoned into the clouding sky. Freud sat behind, waiting for his ally to come back for him—he had no doubt that Afrien would return. His bond with the dragon told him that there was no doubt of that singular truth. Nothing would go wrong.

He started slightly at the brief, quiet sound of wailing.

Immediately, Freud's first thought was to look over to the burned woman—had he been wrong on his diagnosis of her state of death? But he shook that thought off immediately. She had obviously been dead and the crying was clearly too high pitched to be that of an adult woman. No, he was hearing the cries of a child that could not be seen in the pavilion with him and the dead woman. Slowly, Freud stood up and closed his eyes.

Minutes later, he turned around to the exact direction that he was certain the crying was coming from.

A burning house.

Freud had to admit that trying to enter an obviously collapsing house was not one of the better ideas he had made in his lifetime, but something pushed the scholar to erect a magical shield about his person and push past the charred door. The inside of the building was completely aflame, with furniture in shambles and glass strewn everywhere. Specks of dried blood could be seen on the hardwood floor—but that wasn't what kept the scholar's concern. He could hear the cries of the mystery child coming from upstairs, and the staircase wasn't looking particularly safe. The entire middle section was missing and the rail had long since collapsed onto the couch beside it.

Quickly Freud crossed his fingers over his staff and teleported upstairs. That trick really did always seem like the cheapest, earliest thing that a mage learned but Freud had found that it did him a lot of favors in life. At the moment it had materialized him at the top of the staircase. The scholar almost lost his footing at the sudden shock of being in that new place, but managed to grab what little was left of the railing at the very top. It was just one single standing stick but it was just enough to keep him standing. The man balanced himself, strengthened the shield around his person, and continued down the hall.

At the end was an entryway. The door lay in shambles by the frame; the body of a clearly deceased man lay atop one of what looked like one of the Black Mage's soldiers. Freud dismally noted that while the civilian clearly had died, the soldier was only unconscious. He figured he had to make this quick so he slipped into the room.

It was a burning nursery.

And at the very end, in a pile of plush blankets, was a small baby boy. Clearly the child was no older than two years, and was crying very profusely. He had light brown twists of brown hair and light blue eyes filled with tears. With a pang of regret, the mage realized that the dead man in the hallway was probably the baby's father. The mother was likely deceased as well, possibly even the burned woman in the pavilion.

The child was alone. Completely, utterly alone. For a moment, Freud stared at the crying child and tried to figure out what he should do. But when the frame of the door collapsed behind them and the baby boy began to wail louder, the scholar didn't really have much longer to think about the issue. He scooped up the child with one arm and kicked open one of the nursery room windows. Crossing his fingers over his staff again, he teleported them both down to the ground as the building collapsed behind them.

And he looked back down at the child thoughtfully.

"The rest aren't going to be too happy about this, I don't think…" Freud mused, his tone a mixture of discomfort and a strange form of endearment. He could see Afrien on the horizon, coming back for him.

Him, and this new little addition.


	2. Dramatic Reveal

Raison D'Etre

Chapter Two

Dramatic Reveal

"Did you get the town evacuated?" Mercedes looked up slightly from the crowd of humans she was speaking with when she heard the flashy thief approach. Several of the people in the crowd shied away from the Ariant-borne man slightly; Phantom's reputation definitely would never fail to precede him. She supposed that they should just be thankful that the blonde man never let it bother him that the people he was helping didn't particularly trust him.

She shot a glance over at the white clad mage standing beside her. It didn't even both Phantom when his own allies didn't trust him, judged by his nonchalant smirk aimed at Luminous' annoyed glare. The elf queen figured she didn't particularly want to get involved in their petty nonsense today so she just nodded curtly and gestured at the crowd that was gathered around the Lumiere. Said ship was currently resting peacefully on the charred grass with the hull door cracked open to allow the maids to give supplies to the refugees. Soon enough they would be allowed onto the lower level of the ship to be transported to the evacuees camp in northern Leafre.

Mercedes frowned slightly. That camp was beginning to get remarkably packed. She wasn't entirely sure how many more people could be fit into it before they would need a new location. Or a secondary camp.

"Phantom." She shook the thought out of her head quickly; the elf knew she couldn't be worrying about such things when they had so many people to take care of. It risked causing panic—humans panicked so easily, she swore. "We seem to have evacuated as many people as we could but there WAS a certain…death toll, I'm afraid."

"That's to be expected." Phantom said smoothly; neither Mercedes or Luminous were stupid enough to believe in that smooth attitude. The thief was not keen on the idea of civilian deaths or the idea of people losing their loved ones. As one of his associates had so delicately put it, the man had 'gone soft after Aria's death' when it came to such matters. But there wasn't a chance in hell that he was going to show it. "Where exactly is Freud? He went with you four but he isn't back yet."

"No, he isn't. Afrien told me when he dropped off some of the refugees that he was going back for Freud. 'By the orders of my master' was how Afrien explained it to us." Luminous informed the thief. Phantom scrunched up his nose slightly; he obviously didn't care for that particular decision. Luminous ignored the reaction completely. "They should both be back soon enough."

"Why did he stay there?" Phantom demanded.

"_Refugees._" Luminous said through gritted teeth; annoyance was rising to the surface of his usually calculating face. "I told you. Afrien brought back a few refugees. They're in the crowd now."

Phantom made to reply, likely some snarky and rude comeback, but he was silenced by a cold glare from Mercedes. Normally it wouldn't have stopped him but it had been a long day. Rescuing all these refugees and managing his ship was not particularly easy—it was obvious that no one, not even Phantom himself, had patience for Phantom and Luminous' arguments today. The thief supposed he couldn't blame anyone for that. Looking at the faces of these forlorn and broken people, it was hard to want to start anything with anyone.

"Evening, my allies." A cold and crisp voice rung out from above the blonde's head; he didn't have to turn around to know it was Aran but he did anyways. She was carrying several young children, as well as a few men under her arms. Most of them were unconscious and injured from the fire. The white haired warrior woman had never been particularly talkative; she just zeroed her attention immediately in on the crowd and the opened Lumiere.

"Evening, Aran. I presume you're looking for the medical tent to treat your wards, there?" Luminous bowed his head slightly and gestured the tall woman over in his direction. She nodded appreciatively and followed his direction.

"Yes…we have many injuries tonight." She said. The tone in her voice barely changed an octave. It was impossible to gauge her reaction to the situation. They all presumed it was likely due to her upbringing as a powerful warrior; her people had always prized the control over emotions, as to them it meant a warrior that could fight better. It had always served her well in battle and in combat planning.

"That's no lie. The tent is packed." Luminous replied. He didn't tack on the obvious fact that they all wanted to say.

_Tonight, we have lost. _

"You're bleeding."

"Yes. I ran into one of the Black Mage's soldier's while recovering these people." Aran replied unsteadily, moving her hand to cover up the scratch on her stomach. It wasn't deep, but it was bleeding quite profusely. The light mage sighed and took a few of the children off of the woman's hands. Immediately they were placed in Mercedes and Phantom's arm's so that Luminous could hoist the warrior's arm onto his shoulder. It wasn't an action she normally would have permitted but at the moment, she wasn't in the mood to be picky.

Mercedes and Phantom exchanged glances and made to follow the injured warrior woman and mage, but the sound of powerfully beating wings interrupted their thoughts. Both fighters looked to the skies to see the approaching Onyx Dragon; the lull of his wings caused a wind to strike up in the meadow and bustle the crowd about. Several of the refugees shrieked in dismay as Afrien landed in front of them.

Phantom passed the children in his hands to one of the refugees immediately, while Mercedes looked around in dismay and concern about what to do with the pair in his arms. Finally Luminous groaned and reached out, snagging both of them under his free arm. "I'll meet you both over at the medical tent. You, who the blonde guy gave the kids to! Come with me. We have to get them medical attention. Don't mess around, we don't exactly have time to waste here."

The refugee that the thief had handed his burden to nodded awkwardly, rushing after the light mage with concern in her green eyes. Mercedes instantly turned back to rush towards Phantom and Afrien; the blonde thief was helping the brunette Dragon Master slide off his gigantic mount, but the elf couldn't fathom why. Freud didn't seem to be injured from what her keen elfin vision told her. But he did seem to be holding something in his arms that was hampering his movement a bit.

"Freud!" The elf woman bounded forward to land beside her allies, planting an expression of concern on her face despite the knowledge her adept eyesight had given her. "What's going on? Are you hurt?"

"No, no. I'm absolutely fine." Freud said, with a weak and tired smile planted on his face. Phantom's expression did not seem to mirror his at all. He was just staring judgmentally at the bundle of slightly fuzzy blankets that was balanced in the mage's arms. It was making small gurgling sounds and was occasionally shifting in movement.

"What's that, Freud?" Phantom asked steadily. Freud smiled; this time, the expression seemed less tired out and more genuine—warm and friendly. One red gloved hand brushed across the blankets and pulled them away from the small figure. It revealed a small, babbling baby brunette child no older than the age of two. The boy in Freud's arm giggled and swung his arms back and forth happily, unaware of what was happening around him and uncaring towards the balking action that Phantom undertook. Mercedes simply raised a trimmed blonde eyebrow and tapped her chin.

"A refugee child, I presume?" She asked steadily. Freud nodded. "Does he belong to the people who Afrien brought over earlier?"

The warm smile on Freud's face seemed to fade away immediately at the mention of the boy's family. "I retrieved the child from a burning building near the fountain. Both of the parents are dead. The mother suffered terrible burns and died, and the father appears to have been slain by the Black Mage's soldiers."

"So…an orphan."

"Technically, yes." Freud gazed over into the crowd; he could not see the faces of the people Afrien had rescued earlier. "Though I have my theory that the people Afrien brought over earlier ARE related to the child's mother. The children with the old lady called the burned deceased woman their 'mother'. Do you know where they went? I need to talk to them about this boy…"

Mercedes and Phantom exchanged uneasy glances.

"W-well…" Mercedes began hesitantly. "When Afrien landed, that group thanked us and headed off into the woods. We tried to stop them but they wouldn't hear any reason. They told us they had a cabin in the woods that they stayed in during times of crisis. But when Phantom located the area they referred to on a map, it seems like they were referring to an area that has already been taken over by the Black Mage's soldiers. Last time we checked, that specific area of woods is under control of the general Guwaru."

"…So they…" Freud trailed off.

"…It's likely that they ran into trouble. But we couldn't do anything to stop them. We're just here to offer our services. We can't make these people do anything they don't want to, and if they don't want to stay then they're free to leave." Phantom replied. "Under normal circumstances I would have had someone trail them and ensure their safety but…as you can probably tell, we need all our hands on deck right now. I can't spare any of my employees or even my maids at the moment. They need to tend to the refugees who were injured during the raid. We had to let them go."

"…I see." Freud mused, running thin fingers through the child's brown hair. The boy gurgled happily and wrapped one small hand around the mage's index finger. His actions brought a small smile back to the Dragon Master's face; the child was indeed a sweet little thing. He was clearly oblivious, but strong. "A baby who can survive a fire like that must be destined to be a powerful person, don't you think?"

"I guess so." Phantom said doubtfully.

"I believe so. I believe this baby is special. I won't leave him behind, that's for certain. I don't just leave little children behind to die, especially not ones that are as young as two." Freud's features soften considerably. "…Evan. I'll call you Evan, I think. It means 'young warrior'. Surely a name suiting for a young child that is going to be dabbling among the strongest of warriors…don't you agree?"

"Freud, why are you naming it?" Phantom pressed, voice sounding strained and irritated. Mercedes' brow had furrowed as well; the Queen seemed mildly annoyed. "You can't just name someone else's child, Freud."

"Well, I certainly can't just go about calling him 'child'." Freud said brightly, ignoring the obvious frustration of the two blondes. "And I've obviously naming him because I am going to keep him. A kept orphan must be named so that he can be addressed like a proper human being, don't you agree?"

"Freud, you have got to be kidding me!" Phantom snapped. "You can't just pick up a kid like this! We have duties to attend to. None of us have time to deal with a baby."

"I'm going to have to agree with Phantom on this one, Freu—" Mercedes tried to add on, but the red clad scholar interrupted her with a cheerful smile on his face.

"I will not be leaving a child behind to die. If you do not want to be involved with the boy, then don't involve yourself with him. I, however, will be assisting this child in his life." Freud said. Both Phantom and Mercedes shied backwards—their scholar associate was using 'that tone'. It was the voice he always used when he intended to do something, when no one was going to be able to change his mind. Once Freud used that tone of voice the both of them knew it was all over. They couldn't particularly argue with him once he made up his mind. Freud would just beat them down with relentless logic until they gave up.

"I…fine." Mercedes snorted. Phantom didn't say a thing, just staring at the brown haired boy that clung at the Dragon Master's chest. Freud glanced at the blonde thief but said nothing, allowing the man his silence. "Fine. But don't expect me to pamper to HUMAN children."

"Oh, I don't. Neither does Evan. Right, Evan?" Freud asked the child in his hands; Evan simply pawed playfully at the golden stubs on the knuckles of Freud's glove. The brunette mage laughed. "You're curious, Evan. I think you'll fit right in."

The two blonde fighters couldn't disagree more.


	3. Full Dismissal

**To Skyciale and anyone else who may be curious about this: Afrien calls Freud both by his name and by the title 'master' in the game. Generally, I see it as a honorary thing. Like, he sees Freud as an equal/friend but regards him by his title because of the contract. It's more formalities. But, when it comes down to it, Afrien does refer to Freud as 'master' occasionally within the context of the game so I use the term 'master' within their interactions. That said, I see your point and I probably will cut down on him using that term from here on out. Thanks for the feedback, from both you and from everyone else.**

Raison D'Etre

Chapter Three

Full Dismissal

The group of five sat in the meeting room of the Lumiere; on one side of an ornate dark wood table sat Aran, Luminous, Phantom, and Mercedes. All four of them had varying expressions of distaste painted onto their featured—Aran's were the least prominent, as her features seemed mostly blank. But the slight crease of a frown twitched at the edge of her lips. Phantom, on the other hand, was full out grimacing at the man on the other side of the table; the elfin woman sitting next to him kept a tight grip on his white jacket as he glared maliciously at the sleeping boy nestled in the arms of their current 'opponent'.

If Freud could even be called that.

For on the other side of the table, indeed, sat Freud. He was sitting patiently with one leg crossed over the other as he carefully balanced his small acquisition in his arms. Evan slept quietly with one thumb firmly lodged in his mouth, a small trail of drool running down his cheek. The older brunette wiped it off quickly as he rocked the child back and forth to keep him in sleep; his attention was entirely on the boy, and entirely away from the expressions of disdain plastered on the faces of his comrades.

"Freud—" Phantom began, tone loud, but the mage hushed him.

"Don't speak so loudly. You'll wake him up."

"I don't—" Phantom stood up but Mercedes dragged the thief back into his seat and sent a reprimanding glare in his direction. Freud smiled softly but the look faded from his face when the elfin woman sent him a similar look of displeasure.

"Wipe that smile off your face there, Freud. You are far from off the hook yourself. I simply agree that waking up the human…child." Mercedes wrinkled her petite nose slightly at the mention of the boy in Freud's arms. "We would benefit little from listening to it cry. However, this doesn't change that you brought a child up here…it just…are you insane, Freud? Really?"

"I did think you had better judgment than this." Luminous added on disdainfully. Aran said nothing, watching the commotion in silence as her eyes slid between the participants of the discussion. "You cannot just pick up a child and call it your own."

"Well, of course you can't. And I didn't. I took the child from a burning building." Freud explained patiently. Luminous and Mercedes exchanged glances. "It was a house obviously accosted by the Black Mage's soldiers. I saw the child's dead parents and I believe one of you already told me that the people we assumed to be his relatives…"

"Fled, yes." Mercedes said uncomfortably.

"It's likely they didn't count on the survival of this child." Aran interrupted. "They were likely just fleeing because they thought it was for the best. But given the direction they fled in, it's very unlikely that we would be able to recover them. I wouldn't be surprised if they were dead already. Pursuing them would be very unwise."

"And keeping this child would be any wiser?!" Phantom finally yelled as he rose to his feet. The brunette baby in Freud's arms awoke abruptly, his sky blue eyes snapping open to look over the people sitting across from him. These eyes promptly filled with tears. Freud glared at the blonde man but didn't receive any flack in return. "Honestly, Freud, your cause…it's real charming and real sweet. Real touching. But it can't be done. We can't just take a child onto the Lumiere and raise it like it belongs here! You know as well as I do…as well as ANY of us know…that we are SOLDIERS at WAR against the Black Mage!"

"We are at war against a dictator who would render children like this homeless. We are fighting to create a world in which a burning building, attacked by soldiers of the Black Mage, would not be a viable reason for a child to be orphaned." Freud replied calmly, dabbing at the child's eyes as he rocked the body back and forth. "I believe it would only be hypocritical of us to allow ourselves to abandon this boy when that is something that we are fighting for. When we are fighting for a better world for a child like this. Do you not agree with me?"

The room was silent. There was not much they could say back against Freud's words. Phantom slowly took his seat again, crossing his arms as his face fell into an unmistakable pout. The brunette Dragon Master looked away from the group, down to Evan, so that he could begin to whisper quietly to the child and bundle his body up further in the blankets as to comfort the crying child. Slowly, the sobs wracking the small form began to subside and the tears began to evaporate from the boy's eyes.

"…If he thinks he can do this, then it's his own business." Aran broke the silence and Freud glanced up at the tan woman. A hint of curiosity peppered his expression. "But I truly hope he doesn't expect any help from myself…or, it looks like, any of the other fighters here. We know that this is war time. We know we must fight. But if Freud feels that he has the capability to be a parent for an orphan child and be a warrior of justice at the same time….well, he's a grown man. It's his decision to make."

"Aran—" Phantom started, but the tan warrior glared at him pointedly.

"It is Freud's decision to make." Aran said through gritted teeth; her hand tightened on Maha's pole. "If you don't want to be involved with the boy, then that's fine. I don't plan to be involved myself. But don't try to interrupt the decision of a man well into his twenties. It's his choice to make, not yours."

"It's my ship." Phantom said matter-a-factly.

"But Aran is right." Mercedes said. The blonde thief turned to the elfin woman, shooting her a look of disbelief. She, however, was looking straight forward at Freud with a stony expression. "It's his decision to make. Freud will be raising it if he so chooses to."

"I appreciate your support, Queen Merce—"

"Don't mistake me." Mercedes interrupted the mage sharply. It cause both Phantom and Freud to flinch slightly. "I also agree with Aran. Though the child will be allowed to stay aboard this ship, and amongst us, none of us are obligated to care for it or be involved with its life. I will not be hampered down by caring for the ill-begotten offspring of some HUMAN. YOU care for the human brat, not us."

"…Luminous? What say you?" Freud turned to the only other fighter in the room. The other mage had not said much in a while; he had simply been quietly observing the conversation and Phantom's outbursts. The blonde thief glared over at the smaller man—there would be little protests Phantom could make if Luminous agreed to Freud's ideals of keeping Evan. He'd be going up against the entire group at that point. "You've said so little besides your initial statement…has your mind been changed at all?"

"…It hasn't been changed much, no. I still think this is a foolish idea by a person I thought much wiser than this." Luminous began, causing Phantom to brighten a bit. But the blonde's face fell a bit as the light mage proceeded. "However, I have to agree with Mercedes and Aran in their reasoning. You are a grown man capable of making your own decisions on what to do with the child. As long as you don't force my involvement in the situation, I don't care what you do with the whelp."

With that, the light mage promptly stood up and walked out of the room. Phantom and Mercedes watched after him with disbelief in his eyes; Freud just gave a curt nod and returned his attention to the child in his arms. Aran retreated after the other Hero, but before she left the room, she turned her piercing gaze back upon the three remaining fighters she was leaving behind.

"I'll go after him. I need a training partner for this evening anyways." She said curtly. With that and a flip of her white ponytail, the tan woman disappeared into the next room to leave the two blondes and the Dragon Master alone. Silence overtook the room; the only thing that could be heard was the slight noises that Evan was making in the sleep he had drifted back into. He seemed to be talking in his slumber—just meaningless babble that didn't even add into words. Freud stroked the brown haired child's head softly.

"I think he'll be a good addition." Freud said softly, standing up as to not disrupt the child's sleep. Evan mumbled again in his sleep and grasped fragilely at the Dragon Master's thin finger. "I think you'll fit in just fine around here, little young warrior."

With that, Freud exited into the hallway that led out towards the bedrooms and left Mercedes and Phantom alone. The elf and the thief sat there wordlessly for a moment. Phantom was collapsed in his chair and Mercedes was standing limply next to him with one hand placed lightly on the table's surface. Finally, the white gloved hand removed from the smooth wood to place against her brow; manicured fingers massaged her head gently as if to comfort the Queen and bring her down from her frustration.

She was indeed very frustrated, to say the least. This was not what she had been expecting when they had decided to get involved with this incident. Mercedes had figured it would be a run of the mill evacuation effort—granted, she would have preferred if they could have stopped the soldiers before they got to the town but what had to be done was done. They had managed to save the majority of the evacuees and were preparing to fly the refugees over to a nearby camp.

She hadn't expected one of the refugees to be staying with them, though…despite her saying that this was Freud's decision, despite agreeing with Aran, the elfin woman still didn't entirely know what to make of the situation. She certainly didn't like it.

"Mercedes…" Phantom's voice, quiet and demure for once, interrupted her train of thought. She turned her head ever so slightly to include the thief in her train of vision. He seemed morose; she knew damn well why. He wasn't happy that he had lost the battle. Mercedes knew well that Phantom had a speckled past, and wasn't about to pry too deeply into his reasoning for his more vehement protests. "Is this really the best idea?"

"No." She said frankly. "It isn't. But…we trust Freud, don't we?"

"Yes." Phantom replied with a sturdy immediateness. The elfin woman supposed that it was a question she didn't even have to ask. Freud was probably Phantom's only real friend amongst the heroes—though Mercedes had occasionally tried to connect with the thieving blonde human, he just seemed to get along with Freud much better. She supposed they all did. The Dragon Master just carried an air of diplomacy about him that made it very easy for him to befriend people.

Even difficult people like Phantom.

So it was, indeed, rare for Phantom to get as irate as he had with Freud today.

_But I won't ask._ Mercedes closed her eyes lightly. _It's not my business. We're all just associates…not really friends or anything._

"We won't have to really put up with him, don't worry. I'm quite certain Freud will be able to handle the little human whelp on his own." Mercedes said reassuringly, crossing her arms and trying to strike a self-confident pose. Phantom shrugged weakly. "All we have to do is partake in our training…and I'm sure Freud will be a perfectly fine parent for a HUMAN child, after all."

"A war, be it of words or of weapons, is no places for a child of any age or any species." Phantom mumbled quietly, making his way out of the room and leaving the elfin queen behind.

Mercedes had no idea what to make of that.


End file.
